Wow, are we here again already? It seems like only a couple of posts since the last tour.... Oh, right.
Anyway, this month my fellow bloggers and I have been reading, or at least thinking about reading, Lost Mission by Athol Dickson. Which isn't science fiction. Or fantasy. At least, not in the strictest, where-to-look-in-Waterstones sense.
Apparently, it's 'magical realism'. Which is towards the infra-red end of the fantasy spectrum. Is that a thing? It should be. High fantasy, sword and sorcery stuff way out in the UV end waiting to give you cancer if you're over exposed, and things like magical realism - the 'real' world with just one or two elements slightly askew - hidden in the infra-red, where you need a special camera to actually see that they are even fantasy.
That analogy needs a little work doesn't it? Anyway, my point, and I vaguely recall that I had one when I set out on this post, is that this 'almost, but not quite, entirely unlike fantasy' kind of sub-genre is actually the sort of thing I might read. Which is possibly why some of my tour mates didn't really get it.
To find out what they did think, you will need to get clicking:
Brandon Barr
Keanan Brand
Amy Browning
Valerie Comer
CSFF Blog Tour
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
New Authors Fellowship
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
James Somers
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
KM Wilsher
7 comments:
Being from the UV end of the spectrum, I was waiting for the fantasy elements to show up as I read. By the end, I was a little puzzled -- but then I mentally reviewed the story, and, yeah, there are some small hints of fantasy present. But this being fiction by a Christian, they could just as easily be considered miracles, and those aren't fantasy at all. I'm not gonna strain my gray cells by pondering it too much. I just know I liked the book.
I hope you have a chance to give LOST MISSION a try, Steve. But you're right, it's nothing like SciFi. Magical realism is sort of "Fantasy Lite," I guess. While you don't get drawn into a completely different world, you do get the interesting experience of not being totally sure where the line is between the "real" world and the "magical" (or miraculous).
And Keanan, I'm delighted that you enjoyed the book! Thanks for saying so.
Yes, for a Christian I suppose the better turn would be miraculous realism. One of our participants said it is more nearly supernatural suspense, and I can see using that term, too, though even looking at it in those terms you'd have to say it was on the lite side.
But I'm happy we included it in the tour. I like reading something different. I do hope you can get a copy, Steve.
Fantasy lite, miraculous realism.... my Fantasy Spectrum is looking more complicated by the second!
LOL! I loved how you compared the spectrum of Sci/Fi and Fantasy to the light spectrum. I find that hilarious as both an artist and a writer...
So then which elements would you compare to ROY G BIV?
I'm working on it Krysti, watch this space!
Will do! :D
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